Homemade Cranberry Orange Almond Granola

Store bought granola is good, but have you ever tried making your own granola from scratch? It’s actually super easy and so tasty! This homemade cranberry orange almond granola combines some of our favorite breakfast flavors (cranberry and orange) with crunchy almonds and almond butter for an added protein punch. It comes together quickly and bakes into golden, crunchy clusters. Whether you sprinkle it over yogurt, pour milk over it, or snack on it by the handful, this is an easy, low-effort recipe that makes mornings feel a little simpler and tastier.

Pull Up A Chair

Rachel: I love keeping a jar of this on the counter for easy breakfasts or snack time. It tastes so much fresher than store-bought.

Emily: This granola is so good with yogurt and some berries and maybe a drizzle of honey on top. One of my favorite breakfast options.

Why You Should Make This Homemade Granola

• It’s super customizable. Control the mix-ins, sweetness, and overall flavor profile. If you don’t like or can’t eat almonds, for example, feel free to sub peanut butter and peanuts instead! Use less (or more) maple syrup to adjust the sweetness, and add more dried fruit, if you want!
• It’s a great make-ahead breakfast option. This granola comes together easily and keeps well at room temperature for about a week. Whether you work from home, go into the office, or work as a stay-at-home parent or caregiver, this is a great breakfast or afternoon snack.
• It gets you more bang for your buck. Rolled oats are generally inexpensive, and one container will be enough for several batches of granola. The same goes for crisped rice cereal. Buy a box and use some for this granola and some for fruity rice krispies treats. Nuts and dried fruit can be a little pricier, but you don’t need a ton for this recipe. Save the rest for salads or baked goods. 
• It’s easy to scale up. Make the recipe as is or double or triple it for large family or friend gatherings (like we did one winter)! Make a supersized batch and portion it up into to-go jars or bags and give them as gifts for birthday parties, baby showers, spring gatherings, etc.

Ingredients in Cranberry Orange Almond Granola

• Dry ingredients – rolled oats (do not use steel cut or instant oats; they won’t work as well), crisped rice cereal, almonds, dried cranberries. 
• Wet ingredients – almond butter, coconut oil, honey (use maple syrup to keep it vegan), brown sugar, orange juice and zest, vanilla, salt.

How to Make Cranberry Orange Granola

Prep your oven. Preheat your oven to 325°F and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Mix up the wet ingredients. Combine all of the wet ingredients together in a small pot set over medium low heat. Cook everything until the coconut oil melts and the almond butter mixes with the other ingredients. Alternatively, you could make this off heat by using melted coconut oil and mixing it with the other wet ingredients in a small bowl. 

Combine the dry ingredients and mix with the wet ingredients. Add all of the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and toss together. Pour the almond butter mixture into the same bowl and gently mix until the dry ingredients are fully coated. Be careful not to mix too aggressively or you’ll break up the crisped rice cereal. 

Bake the granola. Spread the granola onto the prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the tray from the oven and toss or stir the granola and then rearrange it in an even layer. For bigger clumps of granola, lightly press it down after you spread it out on the baking sheet. Bake the granola for another 10 minutes, then stir, rearrange, and press it into an even layer again. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until the granola is golden brown in color. 

Cool the granola. Remove the granola from the oven and let it cool for at least 20 to 30 minutes before eating so that it crisps up. Doing this is super important if you want to avoid soggy granola.

Our Tips for Making the Best Granola

• Use a mixture of liquid sweetener and solid sugar. To make sure the granola sticks together nicely and caramelizes, we suggest using a liquid sweetener (like honey or maple syrup) and a solid sugar, like brown sugar.
• Include a variety of textures and flavors. We almost always use oats and puffed rice cereal in our granolas because we love their textures together. We also like to throw in nuts, dried fruit, seeds, or coconut chips as additional options. 

• Bake at a lower temperature. It’s rare that we cook things at a low temperature, but in order to properly dry out granola so that it gets crunchy, it needs to be cooked at a lower temperature. We bake this one at 325°F for about 25 to 30 minutes. 
• Keep an eye on it. All ovens are a little different, so keep an eye on the granola as it bakes to make sure it doesn’t get too toasty around the edges. If it’s browning too quickly, you can turn your oven down to 300°F or reduce the cook time.
• Let it cool. It’s so hard to wait, but granola needs to cool before you eat it. Otherwise, it’ll still be chewy. It will crisp up as it cools, so even though it smells amazing right out of the oven, you really should let it cool completely before eating it.

Serving and Storage Suggestions

Serve the granola over yogurt, with milk, or eat it by the handful. 

Once your granola is completely cooled, store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks. Tip: if it starts to lose a little crunch, you can pop it back in the oven for a few minutes to crisp it up again.

Homemade Cranberry Orange Almond Granola

This homemade cranberry orange almond granola is crisp, citrusy, and nutty, with just the right amount of sweetness. Made with simple pantry ingredients like oats, almonds, and dried cranberries, and a flavorful base of almond butter, maple syrup, and fresh orange juice, this easy granola is perfect for breakfast all week.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time:15 minutes mins

Cook Time:25 minutes mins

Total Time:40 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cereal, Granola

Servings: 12

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

• ½ cup almond butter
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp orange zest from about 2 oranges
• 2 tbsp orange juice from about 2 oranges
• ½ tsp salt

Dry Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 ½ cups crisped rice cereal
• ½ cup raw unsalted almonds chopped
• ½ cup dried cranberries roughly chopped

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325°F and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Combine all of the wet ingredients together in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.
  ½ cup almond butter, 2 tbsp melted butter, ¼ cup honey, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ½ tsp salt, 2 tsp orange zest, 2 tbsp orange juice
• In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients and gently mix until dry ingredients are fully coated.
  2 cups rolled oats, 1 ½ cups crisped rice cereal, ½ cup raw unsalted almonds, ½ cup dried cranberries
• Spread granola onto baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and, using a spatula, toss or stir granola and rearrange in an even layer. Bake for another 10 minutes, stir and rearrange again, and bake for another 5-10 minutes until granola is golden brown in color.
• Remove granola from the oven and let it cool for at least 20-30 minutes before eating. This will allow it to dry out and become crunchy.
• Serve granola over yogurt with an extra drizzle of honey, or eat it by the handful. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container.

Final Thoughts

Making granola is one of those things that sounds hard but is actually really easy. It uses mostly inactive cooking methods (baking in the oven while you wait), and only requires a tiny bit of patience and mild supervision so that it doesn’t overbake. Once it’s cooked and cooled, you’ve got breakfast (or snacks) for the whole next week or two! If you make this granola, we’d love to hear from you! Let us know in the comments how it turned out, or tag us on Instagram!